


Unlikely Friends

by Fluffiester (Patherfind)



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Blood, Bullying, Fluff, Gen, Harassment, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Kid versions of Sans and Asriel, School, Underfell, Yelling, injuries
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-06
Updated: 2018-10-06
Packaged: 2019-07-27 05:37:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16212542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Patherfind/pseuds/Fluffiester
Summary: Asriel's first day at school! It goes terribly. But this is an Underfell fic, what did you expect?He meets some of the kids, he doesn't really like most of them. The one nice person he meets seems to be having a bad time.





	Unlikely Friends

Today was the first day of school for the district. The New (home) district, it was a really good school basically. It was actually like, the only school in the underground, which made it the worse. Not many people could get in supposedly, but an education was not required unless you wanted to be the next royal scientist or something. Or if your high ranking parents stepped in and made you go!

Asriel was a year late to joining school. He had assumed that his father had not wanted him to go, since Asgore never really mentioned it. In reality, Asgore couldn't care less if his son went or not. Just that no one would keep Asriel from going. Asriel basically had free reign of the underground, and was under the protection of the tyrant king. But those were basically the only perks of the family he was born into, he was neglected by his father, and his mother figure.. Well, there was none to speak of. 

In fact, Asriel was scrambling to pack his things. Asgore hadn’t woken him up like he had said he would. Maybe he forgot.  
Actually nevermind, Asgore was in the living room, sharpening a sword for one of his guardsmen.  
He gruffly greeted Asriel, more of an angry mumble, followed by him taking a long sip from his piping hot coffee. 

Asriel blinked, a frown coming across his face. The look faded though, and he picked up his backpack. He HAD prepacked the day before, but it would have been nice if he did not have to rush.  
For breakfast he grabbed himself some toast. No butter or anything on it, no time if he didn’t want to be late. He shook the crumbs off his clothes, then put his lunchbox into his backpack.  
He skipped briskly to the door. “Goodbye!” He called to Asgore, more of a built in habit really. Asgore did not say anything back. Asriel closed the door behind him at a reasonable volume. 

He began speed-walking to school, past the dull garden of the castle, past the dull gray buildings. Past the flashy red/yellow/black signs for stores. Some other kids were heading the direction he was, so that was comforting.  
He shrugged his shoulders to adjust his backpack, before waving at a kid he assumed was heading to school as well. They were a short mouse monster. Very short, due to their.. They’re a mouse. Half of their face was covered by a scarf, a few tufts of fur sticking up on their head. Their ears were perked up, and their nose stuck out through the folds in his scarf. 

Asriel thought they looked pretty-darn friendly. “Howdy!” He called, smiling a bit. His little fangs showed. Though, they didn’t look very dangerous, also taking into account his fluffy personality. 

The kid turned their head as they kept walking, holding their backpack flesh to themselves snuggly. Once Scarf saw who it was, he huffed and then scampered off faster. 

Asriel awkwardly lowered his hand to his backpack strap. One of the negatives of being the son of the king..  
He trudged on. He turned a corner and there it was. A large-ish building. It wasn’t on the castle level, but it still appeared just as intimidating. Maybe even more so, but probably only for the attending children.  
Golly! Some of these kids must have been here before, maybe someone could show him around. 

He headed up to the building, where two.. Guards stood. There were guards!? Of course there were, this was the only school.  
It just.. Reminds him of the castle, that was a bit concerning. But Asriel stayed hopeful. He stepped into the building. The AC was set to cold. His fur fluffed up a bit at the temperature shift.

Asriel hugged his backpack, now glad that he only had comfortable clothing. Looking around, he notices that the other kids didn’t seem bothered by shift. 

He headed to his homeroom class. The teach was some big ol’ crocodile monster. Asriel looked up at her as he headed to an open desk, sort of near the back. The seat beside him was empty, for now at least. Asriel assumed it would be filled, considering the stream of monster kids coming through the heavy door.  
He watched their faces, maybe he could remember some of them. He heard that they always introduced the kids on their first day, so he hoped that was true!

Surprisingly, Asriel was right about something for once. A few things actually. The chairs all filled up, and the kids who didn’t have anywhere to sit seemed to go to another classroom. Weird system, Underfell. 

His table group had some sort of bear monster, a rabbit, and in the seat beside him was a.. Skeleton?

 

Asriel couldn’t help but pass him glances. He had only heard of one skeleton, whenever his dad complained about his employees. The royal scientist, Gaster. He was in charge of all scientific development in the underground, well, he was in charge/the supervisor of different lab sections. The most that Asriel had gathered was that Gaster.. Was ticking his father off, and that he needed to control his lab more effectively or Asgore would ‘have to step in’.

So seeing another skeleton was odd. He was wearing a maroon sweater that looked two sizes too big for him, adorned with yellow fluff jetting from the hoodie and sleeves. Underneath of that he had a soft red turtleneck on. His eyelights were a dull pinkish color, it was odd considering his father’s were a bright red. Gaster’s child looked so much more.. Relaxed than him? It was a bit baffling to think that they’re related.

His sockets looked.. Tired? Like he almost had bags under his eyes, but he wasn’t quite to that point of deprivation yet. Asriel found this weird since school hadn’t been happening for supposedly two months. Why else would a kid be tired?  
And.. were those bruises?! On his hands (along with some band-aids around some bone segments), and one on the side of his face? Why were his sockets like that? Like.. Sort of how a monster’s would be if they were crying... Replicated on bone of course. 

The kid next to him finally seemed to notice Asriel’s stare and gave him a look. Asriel expected annoyance, anger, frustration. Really any other emotion than nervousness. That.. That wasn’t a thing! Asriel was supposed to be the only monster that ever showed weakness.. Clearly Asriel was wrong about something again.  
For a reason unknown, the skeleton looked away and--!

“Asriel! Just because you are the prince, does not mean you don’t have to pay attention in class!” The teacher snapped, literally, their jaw clicked together in annoyance.  
He was shaken from his thoughts, “Uh! So-sorry.. Ma’am.” He said, looking down, his ears looking droopier somehow. 

Laughter erupted from the class as the teacher turned around and headed back to the front of the room. Their swaying tail knocked some chairs, and soon the laughter died down.  
Asriel didn’t think he could LIVE this down. Already, he had made a fool of himself, and probably made another kid really uncomfortable! On his first day!

Asriel slumped in his cheap plastic seat, watching the class pathetically. There goes his chance of making friends, if he had one at all. 

He only participated in class later on, once he felt that the teacher’s outburst had blown over. 

The rest of the day was a bit of a blur, Asriel only really enjoying lunch. Recess was after this, so maybe he could at least join some of the less violent games.  
Asriel sat at their class table, at the back end of it, alone. He set his lunchbox onto the table and quietly opened it, starting to eat his sandwich and snacks. 

A kid walked up and took and took the seat across from him.  
Asriel looked up at them curiously, only to be met with two pinkish eyelights staring back at him. 

“Uh.. hi.” He said, lowering his sandwich away from his mouth, in case they wanted to talk.  
The skeleton shook their head a bit before crossing his arms in front of him. He slumped down on the stool and nuzzled his face into his sleeves. 

“Where’s your lunch?” Asriel asked him. He looked awfully.. thin? Well he knew he was made of bone but he expected them to be a bit more filled out, or in the very least have fitting clothes. 

He had a band-aid over the bridge of his nose bone, and it looked like he had hastily wiped blood from his face. Asriel assumed this is why he went to the nurse earlier, and why some kids were laughing about... Did they punch him? Oh gosh. This kid got punched AND he didn’t have anything to eat for lunch! 

“don’gah’on..”  
Well, maybe that’s what he said. The slur of letters was all that Asriel could hear through the plushness of his jacket. 

“Uh..”  
What now? Asriel looked into his little lunch tin. He still had a bag of chips that this person could have. But what if they just didn’t want food?.. They looked sad.  
He picked up the bag of cheesy whirls and placed the bag in front of the other. The bag crinkled as it brushed against their sleeve.

He flinched and tilted his head to look up nervously. His eyelights flicked over the bag of chips. “ya uhm...” He trailed off and nudged the chip bag back towards Asriel.

“No.. It’s for you.” He said in a hushed voice. They weren’t supposed to talk during lunch, stupid adults making stupid rules. 

He gave Asriel a dumbfounded look. He pulled his hand back and shoved it under the table. He stared at the pattern of the plastic tabletop. “what’s wrong with it huh..?” He asked, eyelights flicking over to him. 

“W-wha? Nothing’s wrong with it.” He said louder, a bit shocked and confused.

The lunchroom was quieter now, the mumbled conversations coming to a halt. All the kids were looking at Asriel again, Well...Everyone.. Including his teacher. He looked over at everyone before tugging on his ears and casting his look downwards.

The kid across from him slide over a seat and put his head down on the table again. 

Gosh this was just great. He ruined his reputation all over again. 

Asriel huffed a sigh, putting the chips back into his lunchbox. He could give it to him during recess... Yeah. 

He rested his head on the table much like the one adjacent to him. Yeah.. Wait until recess. 

Lunch ended, and all the kids filed out to the.. Playground. Most of the games played involved chasing around a poor kid (chosen by rock paper scissors, or not it) with sharp sticks and jabbing them. Somehow, that kid ended up being the skeleton from before. How did he even get picked!? Last time Asriel saw him, he was spaced out and leaning against a tree. 

Some kid must have dragged him into it somehow, because now they were chasing the crying skeleton around trees and throwing rocks at him.  
They kept managing to fling the pebbles at his head, and he cried louder. It hurt to watch, Asriel wanting more and more to go in there and maybe throw a few flames...  
But that would.. Get him suspended, and he did not want to hurt anyone. 

He watched the game until eventually the skeleton fell over and curled up tightly, hands over his head. He was trembling and crying. He got jabbed with sticks and some left in the gaps in his bones. Thankfully, the participants got bored and walked off to the blacktop, where they then played a much less violent game of tag. 

Asriel’s grip tightened around the bag of chips he still carried. Taking a breath, he ran to the victim, who was still curled up in the grass and hyperventilating.  
Was this a panic attack? It wouldn’t be too hard to believe, considering the high noise levels, and what he had just been through regarding the other children’s game.

“U-uh.. Gosh, are you alright?” 

The kid went stricken, a little noise escaping him as he turned, dislodging a few sticks in the process.  
He looked at Asriel with shaky pink eyelights.  
“n-no..” He winced. His head hurt.. Gosh...

“Should I g-get the nurse?!” Asriel asked him, crouching down beside him and awkwardly putting a hand on his shoulder. This was how to comfort people, right?

Apparently... Not.  
The skeleton choked down a sob at that, trying to pull away from him.

Asriel mumbled an apology and took his hand away.

“n-no nurse..” 

“Okay okay uh, alright.” Asriel was NOT freaking out. He knew that... Okay maybe he was freaking out a little bit, it was only natural. He just saw a kid getting jabbed and attacked during recess, and no one stepped up for him. 

“W-what’s your name?” It was all he could think to ask. He already asked if he was okay, he had said not. He even asked if he wanted the nurse! Another denial! There was no way he could say no to this, right?

“s-red..”... Sarred said?

“Sarred?” Asriel asked stupidly.

“n-no!” Red whined, hugging his head. “i-it’s just red.” He said in a quieter voice, feeling guilty for yelling at the new kid. “uh.. w-what’s your name..?” Red asked in return, his breathing settling slowly.

“Asriel.” The prince answered him, earning him a dumbfounded look in return.

Red internally barraged himself for that one. How did he not know who he was!? He fit the description so well it was--- Well, it was him, so of course he did.

Asriel sighed. He had to bring Red to the nurse, he was pretty sure Red had another nosebleed, and that his head was bleeding... Just how hard were they throwing those rocks?

 

Abusive kids aside, Asriel looked at Red’s face.  
“I-I.. I think you need to go to the nurse.” He goes and grabs Red’s arm, trying to help him up.

Red tensed, shaking. “n-no ‘m fine ‘m fine.” He said fast, standing up on his own and stumbling a few steps back from Asriel.

“You got beat up--” He starts.

“n-no ya can’t! jus’ don’t do it!” Red cut him off in a pouty voice, shakily wiping away his tears. He turned and tried to run-- It did not go as planned.

Asriel flinched at the sound of bone slamming into sidewalk. Red had fallen again, and was now just full on bawling his sockets out. He must have really been hit hard earlier.

Asriel’s soul panged in sympathy. “Wait here!” Asriel said, he was going to get the nurse!  
He ran off quickly, breathing heavily by the time he got inside. He headed to the nurse’s office and knocked on the closed door. There was a rectangular window on it, a bit higher up. Only the tips of his horns could be seen from the inside.

“Come in.” An angry sounding female’s voice gruffed through the door. Asriel pushed open the door. He was met with the sight of the office, a mostly white room. There was a little table thing for naps, maybe a thermometer on the desk. Some... lollipops? They had unbranded wrappers, weird.

The nurse themselves was a fluffed up, almost matted orange and brown cat; the tips of their ears having flicks of fur, orange and brown respectively.

“What do you need?” She asked, poking at her twisted whiskers with a claw. Again, she came off as a bit ticked.

“My friend got hurt! At recess!” Asriel said once she asked, “What do I do... I-I don’t know!” He adds, nervousness briming in his voice.

 

She shushed him, green eyes narrowing. “What’s their name?”

“It’s uh.. Red.” He answered the nurse, nodding a bit. Would she really help? Yes!

The lady clicked a few keys on her keyboard. Her pupils followed some words on the screen as she picked up the phone. “Go get him.”

Asriel tilted his head a bit, ears drooping stupidly. Get.. Him? He thought that an adult would do that or something. If he paid any attention, he could see how understaffed this place was. 

“Bring him here.” She repeated in a bit of annoyance, pointing a claw at the door.  
Taking the hint, Asriel ran to the door and out. He headed back to the playground. The bell rang as he hit the playground. Kids ran past him, shoving and arguing as they sought to avoid being sent to detention. 

Red had sat up and was watching the other kids wearily. The tears on one half of his face looked as if he had smeared them around accidentally.

Asriel approached, once again out of breath. “I-I got the nurse. She said... L-let’s go.” He offered a hand to the sitting monster, who looked twice as pathetic as he did in first period.

He gave Asriel a frightened look. “w-why?!” He asked quickly. Now he was contemplating skipping school.. But he wouldn’t, that would get him in more trouble.  
The point was that he asked as nicely as he could for Asriel NOT to get the nurse!

“You’re hurt!” Asriel said, grabbing Red’s hand and trying to pull him up. Red... whined(?) as he stood. He was shaky on his feet, a little groan escaping his maw. His head hurt, he felt dizzy, his head was ringing. And now the school was going to call his dad to pick him up. Or scarier, his brother. The thought brought fresh, glowing red tears to his sockets, but Asriel didn’t notice from his leading position. 

They were quiet as they fought to get to the nurse quickly. The bell rang, causing Red to flinch. Honestly, the sound scared Asriel too, but not to the point it was with Red. 

Asriel held the door open for Red to walk in. He hesitated before shaking his head and walking in quickly. Asriel closed the door. “Bye!” He called through it, then booked it to class. Asriel sure hoped that Red was alright. 

When he tried to open the classroom door, he found it locked. Right, he was late. He let out a shaky breath, then caught it.

When he was let into the classroom, the teacher went and pushed his desk to the corner, then wrote him a detention slip for after school. Today. Asriel hastily tried to explain that he was taking someone to the nurse, but she wasn’t having it. 

He would have to stay for an extra hour, and according to the red slip, write lines. After that, she called to the detention center.

Class was generally miserable for Asriel, he would raise his hand, only for his answers to be wrong. Kids would laugh, so Asriel just gave up on participation. He only copied what he could from the board (it was hard to see from the corner).

About ten minutes after that, someone knocked on the door softly. When the homeroom teacher went to open it, Asriel could clearly see that it was Red. He had his sweater tied around his waist. He looked so much smaller, even with the turtleneck on.  
Out of his mouth stuck a lollipop stick, and he was holding a plastic baggy with ice to his head.

Asriel’s eyes, and a few of the other students’, followed him as he sat down in his usual spot. The teacher didn’t even pay him enough attention to write him a detention slip for his rude lateness.  
Red seemed tired, as when he tried to write, his hand would trail off the paper, and half of it looked like chicken scratch. 

The sight reminded Azzy of his own work, so he did that.

Then, interrupting the lesson, the in classroom intercom system rang.

^Red Font, to the front office. Red Font, to the front office for pick-up.^ The receiver clicked, signalling the end of the message.  
The teacher pointed to the door sternly, locking eyes with Red, who instantly looked less dazed.

Red nearly started crying again, but instead he just tugged on his hoodie, put on his backpack, then walked to the room door. He pressed his way out, leaving behind his scribbly paper. While no one else was paying attention, Asriel could have sworn that he heard Red crying in the hallway, though the sound was slowly retrieving, and soon gone. 

Asriel stared at his desk, letting the rest of class fog over his mind.

Once class ended, and Asriel started to leave, his teacher stopped him by the door.  
He gulped and looked up at her. 

“Room 2B.” She said, pointing to the slip hanging out of Asriel’s pocket. 

“Oh.. Right.” Asriel gave a defeated sigh, taking out the paper and then starting to navigate the halls. Just an hour, he told himself. Over and over and over again. 

It took him a good 10 minutes of looking to find the  
room. The hall had a flickering light, which was very comforting and not unnerving in the slightest. He groaned as he headed in. Asriel had the slip and pencil in hand.

Asriel wanted to leave badly, but instead he was in detention. Some scary looking rat monster kid was in here, writing cuss words on the desk. The teacher was a bear with black spikes, and a weird edgy looking collar on. 

Asriel gave the teacher his detention slip, and then grabbed a lined piece of paper from his desk. It already had his name on it, and there was a line for him to copy, along with a number.  
‘I will not assist the weak’ It read, with a ‘100’ printed in a big red marker.

He read the line in horror. Was this really what they were telling the kids in detention? Or just him because of why he was late? 

Shoving the thought down, he half-heartedly started copying the line over, and over, and over again. He even stopped halfway through to line the paper. He was on... 30. His hand was already cramping.  
Today was already long, but it seemed it was going to be longer.


End file.
